AI startup Sentient.io raises Series A round for global expansion

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) startup Sentient.io on Wednesday said it has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round, bringing its total amount raised to US$5 million.

This Series A funding round was led by Digital Garage Group, Asahi Broadcasting Group's corporate venture capital arm ABC Dream Ventures, and global deep-tech innovation accelerator Leave a Nest Group.

The new fund will be used to scale the platform for the global market, especially to fulfil a surge in demand by Japanese corporations for digital transformation, said Sentient.io.

"We will also scale up our presence locally as well as overseas with sales offices starting in Japan this year. Expansion into Indonesia and the US are being planned," said Christopher Yeo, founder and chief executive of Sentient.io.

Founded in May 2017, the company is also backed by A*Star and global technology venture capital, BEENEXT. Sentient.io is an AI-as-a-Service platform which businesses can use for their own applications.

The platform allows software developers to use its pre-trained AI microservices, which can then help these developers create smart applications, powered by AI, for Big Data owners such as telcos, manufacturers, government and mass media companies.

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Naoto Obama, chief executive of ABC Dream Ventures, said: "The proactive use of AI and data to create content and non-broadcast-based content reinforces and complements our broadcasting business. This generates synergies with ABC group of companies to achieve new business value, which has always been one of our strategic objectives."

"Sentient.io will continue to raise funds from the international financial markets to enable us to expand our talent in research, sales and engineering with a strategic focus on developing businesses in the urban living, digital economy and next generation wellness industries as an AI service provider," said Mr Yeo.